Daijoubu Dai Yo
by Aestivate
Summary: Set after seventh movie. Takuya's sick... And it's the CC that have to make him better. Chaos... Sweet, very slight chaos. [Mentions of kouzumi]


Disclaimer: Digimon Frontier is property of Toei Animation, and I don't own them. If I did, I would be rich and be living in a house with a pool. Under no circumstances and I going to sell, reproduce, or claim Digimon as my own.

Notes: A little one-shot thing. I don't know. It seemed cute at the time. It has some seventh movie spoilers, so you should see that first before reading this. Don't say I didn't warn you. This is set a few days after the seventh movie. This is an attempt out of writer's block. Uh. Yeah. I promise I'll try and update my CCS fics soon.

_**Daijoubu Dai Yo**_

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There it was again. It was something evil, vile, even worse than the battle than the group had witnessed and seen.

It was a sneeze.

Izumi's raised her eyebrows at the sound, and yet again, the little fellowship paused again for Takuya to regain himself.

"Daijoubu ka, Takuya-oniichan?" Tomoki asked worriedly, after recoiling and jamming his hat further down on his head.

The goggle-head nodded numbly, his nose strawberry colored and the area around it flushed. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, but they cleared as he smiled and nodded, a bit more pronounced and enthusiastic.

The group continued in silence, but Tomoki could still notice the lag in Takuya's step. His shoulders were slumped, and the younger boy opened his mouth to speak but shut it again. Kouji and Izumi walked ahead, Junpei on their trail, as Bokomon and Neemon struggled to keep their strides even with the group.

They were still on the Wandering Island, after witnessing the horrifying battle between the Human Type Digimon and the Beast Type Digimon. The dispute was over, Ornithmon was gone, and the spirits of Ancient Garurumon and Greymon were again at rest, and the Digitama were progressing to become children again. And for that matter, Bearmon noticed Kotemon's Digitama (which he kept incubated in his room on the Beast side of the island) looked ready to hatch, and a new mural with Bearmon and Kotemon was almost dry.

Also, Bokomon noted how they could return to the Digital World again and that the Wandering Island stopped Wandering and planted itself in the Digital World, which was also a good thing so the Chosen Children could return, and be greeted back to a beautiful lake.

All was well.

Takuya paused. "Ah… Ah…"

….Or not.

Couldn't he find any way to control it?

"Takuya-han…" Bokomon began.

"What is it?" Takuya pressed a finger to his nose to stifle the sneeze that hurt his throat and nose, and looked down at the little Digimon.

Bokomon looked at his feet (which, by the way, was not a long distance from his face), and looked as though he was struggling with words. Neemon pulled his pants and had to back off, seeing the look of malice on Bokomon's face.

"He means you're sick and that you should rest, ne, Takuya-kun!" Izumi snapped.

Takuya fired back angrily, "I'm not sick!" …although that statement was not backed up as the stifled sneeze came out with full force directly in… Kouji's face.

Takuya had caught up to Kouji and Izumi after all.

Shutting his eyes and sighing, Kouji readjusted his bandana and looked at Takuya (although his eye twitched – you could tell Kouji was quite ticked off), and said quietly, expressionless, for fear that he might get aggravated, "Izumi is right," he grunted.

Smiling defiantly, Izumi stated, "Ne, ne, we're still by the oasis," she flashed Tomoki a smile, "and the island is still back there. The Digimon there will be glad to give us some hospitality after what we did for them."

"I like Izumi-chan's idea!" Junpei exclaimed, speaking for the first time.

"Of course you would," Takuya muttered under his breath. "And for the last time, I'm not sick!"

And of course, Takuya must have had bad karma or something, because he sneezed again – twice, actually, and then was hit with a dizzy spell and crumpled. Junpei and Kouji sighed, and each of them seized one of Takuya's arms and dragged the steadily weakening boy to the direction of the oasis.

The sun beat down on the trio, and sweat trickled down both Junpei's and Kouji's necks. Junpei complained. "Atsui, atsui, atsui, atsui, atsui, atsui, atsui…"

"URUSAI!" Kouji, Izumi, and even Tomoki snapped. Junpei faltered.

Except he didn't stop; he just whispered it. "Atsui, atsui, at – ah?"

"Wai!" Izumi took Tomoki's hands and skipped around happily. "We're here!"

Takuya began struggling. His goggles slipped off his head. "Let – me – go! Boku heki!"

"Honto?" asked Tomoki, disbelieving.

"Hai, hai… Daijoubu dai yo!" Takuya persisted.

"Daijoubu janai!" Izumi stamped her foot and her hands balled into fists. She really did look angry.

She stamped towards Takuya, as Junpei and Kouji dropped him in surprise. Takuya fell backward, and rubbed his head, muttering, "Ittai…" And promptly sneezed. Seeing the raged face of Izumi, Takuya laughed nervously. "Oh… That? Um… Ano… Nandemonai?"

Izumi exploded. A vein on her forehead simply popped. Her tasteful purple cap flew off, and her turquoise eyes flashed dangerously. "Takuya no baka!" She shrieked, literally shaking. "Now, you're going to let us…" She gestured to Kouji and Junpei, who were working to keep Takuya up, and Tomoki, whose hat had also flown off, and Bokomon and Neemon who looked mildly surprised, and all the more worried… "Atashi-tachi," Izumi continued, "You're going to let us be right and you're going to rest and get better, and then we'll _go._ _Do you hear me!" _Izumi demanded, her face getting rather white.

Bokomon, Neemon, and Tomoki nodded from beside Izumi, and Junpei and Kouji nodded from behind the goggle head.

Takuya no longer questioned his health. It said so on his face. He was smiling, thought nervously, embarrassedly, and so his friends could feel consoled if they worried, but his eyes were far off and there was a spot of pink under them and around his nose, and the rest of him pale and drawn. There was an inevitable amount of exhaustion in his voice when he spoke, and that was noticed as well.

Takuya himself felt horrible. He cursed himself for trying to save the baby Digimon, Kotemon, Tomoki, Junpei, Bokomon, and Neemon from falling into a stream – but failed and all of them had fallen in, which was odd, since they were alright. Still, Takuya's eyes burned, leaving him with dizziness, his throat was raw, his nose stung, and his head throbbed. And, yes there was an and, he had never, ever felt so tired in his life.

At that, Takuya slumped forward, and obviously couldn't continue. Everyone grew alarmed. "Oi! Hold yourself together, Takuya!" Kouji shook him, and Takuya's eyes opened. Kouji sighed with relief, and everyone else breathed easily.

Bokomon noticed and absence of a member in their group. "Tomoki-han?"

Izumi noticed it too. "Tomoki! Where did you go? Ah?"

Tomoki was on top of a flight of steps, with Bearmon, several of the Baby Digimon, and Grizzmon waving down at them. "Hiyaku, Izumi-san! I told everyone what happened!"

A grin appeared on Izumi's face. "Good job, Tomoki!" Izumi clapped her hands together. "Saa, minna, ikimashou? Ikou!" She marched forward, renewed and rejuvenated, but stopped and turned around in the nick of time to see Takuya… Sneeze directly in Kouji's face.

Winded, Kouji readjusted his bandana, with a sour look on his face. Junpei tried to hold in a comment, and the two once again helped Takuya to his feet. "Walk by yourself!" Kouji grunted.

"I can't," Takuya coughed.

"I liked it better when he was being stubborn," Junpei said regretfully to no one in particular, sweat trickling down the side of his cheek with the effort. "At least he tried walking on his own."

Hearing this, Takuya managed to stand on his own. "I _can_ walk on my own."

"Douzo, walk on your own then!" Junpei said gleefully, letting go almost instantaneously. Kouji let go of Takuya a bit more gracefully.

"Gambatte ne, Takuya-oniichan!" Tomoki called from the top of the steps. Izumi stood by them, waving down. The Baby Digimon bounced eagerly around Bearmon, who looked a bit puzzled.

"Shouldn't we… Go down and help?" Grizzmon asked Izumi.

Izumi shook her capless head (it was in her hands and she was twirling it with her fingers), and said. "Iie. Takuya-kun can do it on his own." Grizzmon nodded, though still looked unsure. Bearmon pressed against his brother, and a Baby positioned itself on Bearmon's head so it could see better.

Takuya waved back up to Tomoki and Izumi, took several less than grateful steps, and pitched forward, and felt himself fall. The world began spinning, and Takuya slipped off into the welcoming bowels of his fever, which had most likely gotten higher.

"TAKUYA-ONIICHAN!" Tomoki yelled. He ran down the steps to see if he could catch him, but no, Takuya hit the ground with a soft _THUD!_

"TAKUYA!" Everyone echoed.

Kouji ran toward the fallen boy, and turned Takuya onto his back and pressed a hand against his forehead. It was hot. It was much hotter than it should have been. "What happened?" Kouji interrogated of Junpei.

Fearful, Junpei responded, "When we were looking for you, we all fell into the stream."

"Baka…" Kouji whispered. "I suppose he fell in, too?"

Junpei nodded.

"Kouji-han!" Bokomon and Neemon ran forward.

"Kouji-kun!" Izumi called, the first to reach the trio. She squatted next to him, and looked at Takuya worriedly. "Is he going to be alright?"

Kouji nodded. "Mm. It's probably just a cold." By this time, Grizzmon, Bearmon, several of the Babies, Bokomon, and Neemon (who had tripped over one other and reached a rather questionable position) reached them.

Tomoki looked to be on the verge of tears. Bearmon patted him on the back, smiling. "Daijoubu dai yo," Bearmon reassured.

Tomoki nodded. "Arigatou."

"In any case," Grizzmon started, "He should be brought inside and out of the sun."

Izumi wiped a bead of sweat off her face and agreed. "Can we bring him to your place, Grizzmon?"

"Matte!" A new voice exclaimed.

A tall figure jumped from a building towards them. Dinohumon! "Before you bring him anywhere, consider my place. It is after all, closest, and you are welcome to stay as long as you like," he offered.

"Arigatou gozaimasu!" the Chosen Children nodded towards each other. It was a good idea.

Grizzmon and Dinohumon, being the biggest, lifted Takuya up gently and led the group to Dinohumon's place.

They worked to settle Takuya in bed, who had fallen into a fitful sleep.

"Sumimasen," Grizzmon apologized. "But Dinohumon and I must step out for an errand."

"Yes," Dinohumon agreed. "Please make yourselves at home." The two turned around and walked away.

Tomoki, who had seen them off, nodded and waved toward the disembarking group. He had decided not to question why Bearmon and the Baby Digimon were with the two older Digimon. "Bye! Have a safe trip!"

Once inside, Tomoki saw Izumi and Kouji working in the kitchen. They were working together to prepare meals, and they were… smiling. "Is there anything I can do?"

Izumi looked up from the wok she was working at. "Hai… Actually there is. Dinohumon said there was an area where we can sleep tonight," she pointed (with a spatula) at a closed door. "Can you help prepare the sleeping area?"

Tomoki nodded. "Hai," he said defiantly, a look of seriousness and determination on his face. He scampered off.

"Kouji-kun, what are you making?" Izumi questioned. Kouji had been working very hard for a while on his pot.

"I'm making some stew for all of us to eat later," Kouji said distractedly.

"Sugoi ne! It looks wonderful and is very practical since Takuya-kun's throat is probably very sore, so I don't think he would want to eat anything hard. That was smart, Kouji-kun! Buono!" Izumi praised, looking over her shoulder to where Kouji was stationed.

Kouji grunted his thanks, and couldn't help but look at Izumi's blonde head when her back was turned while she was preparing some Italian pasta.

Takuya groaned and stirred. He noticed a thin blanket was covering him and felt wonderfully luxurious. The bed he was on felt soft, and the sheets were cool, minus the areas he kept warm where he lay on them. There was a table carved from stone beside him, and Takuya saw his hat and goggles on the table. The weight on his head had lessened slightly.

Were his goggles really too tight?

"No way," he said allowed, and he could hear himself croak, a bit like a Frogmon. Huh? Takuya tried to make another sound. His throat hurt and burned with the effort of it.

He sat up in bed (or at least attempted to) and a banging pain from behind his eyes surfaced, and sent blackness on his vision. This time, however, Takuya did not immediately collapse. He shrugged back down into the bed, feeling the relief of the covers, shivering.

Takuya realized that his fever was quite high and that he was stupid for denying it earlier. Wait. What happened? Takuya recalled what happened very faintly and only recognized a few people. Izumi, Tomoki, Kouji, Junpei, Grizzmon, and… Oh yeah! Dinohumon.

So this was Dinohumon's home. It looked fairly normal, at least in Takuya's eyes. This might have not been the Digital World (or was it? Takuya couldn't be sure), but from what Takuya and his friends had seen of Digimon residences, they looked anything but normal. Then again, what of the room had Takuya seen? The nightstand, the brief sight of stars that crossed his range of sight when he'd tried to get up, the bed, and the ceiling.

Scratch being normal. The ceiling and the walls, from what Takuya could notice, were painted many hues of grey. They were indeed different from the multicolored tanks that were used in the dispute, but Takuya had a feeling that the Digimon on the island, which were now in a tine of tranquility, would not need to use the tanks anymore.

Now, however, Takuya couldn't care less about what the room looked like. He was grateful that he was being cared for so well. His friends could have easily left it with that and disregarded his stubbornness. Takuya felt a pang of guilt. The group was being held back because of Takuya's cold. Would they regard it as that? No, they wouldn't. Takuya remembered Izumi's outburst and Tomoki's face, stricken with worry.

Takuya felt a warm sense of calm and sank down deeper in the bed, and sleep took him once more.

Junpei and Tomoki worked on the sleeping mats. It turned out Junpei was napping in the room where the sleeping mats were to be laid out and prepared, Tomoki thought it would be quicker if both of them worked at the same time.

Funny thing was, Bokomon and Neemon were also resting, but did not wake up, even when Tomoki moved them to a corner in the room so the sleeping mats could be laid out, and Neemon didn't even stir when Junpei had accidentally dropped him, transferring them to the corner.

"If I were sleeping mats, where would I be?" Tomoki wondered aloud.

He looked Junpei. "The closet!" They said in chorus. Triumphantly, Junpei pulled open the door of the closet. Several mats toppled on him.

"J…Junpei-san? Daijoubu?" Tomoki asked worriedly, attempting to pull one of the mats off of Junpei.

Junpei pushed the mats off and shut the closet door. "How many mats are there?"

"Ichi, ni… san…" Tomoki counted. "These are big mats, so two people can fit on one. Izumi-san should get a mat to herself," he mused. "And there are four mats. Perfect! We don't even need to share! I can get one, Kouji-san, Izumi-oneesan, omae… Hai, there are just enough for everybody."

"What about Taku—Oh yeah," a worried look settled in Junpei's face at the same time one crossed Tomoki's.

"Takuya-oniichan… Do you think he'll be alright?"

Junpei nodded, and said airily, "He'll be fine. He's not even that sick."

Tomoki brightened. "Mm!" He jumped up and threw up his hat and smiled. The vibration of his landing caused his D-Tector to fall out of his pocket.

Bokomon stirred. "Do not lose your D-Tector!"

Tomoki looked at Junpei and they both laughed, reassured and positive that Takuya would be okay.

"Itadakimasu!" Everyone said.

The food was almost gone, instantaneously.

"Oishii!" Tomoki exclaimed. "What kind of rice is this?"

Izumi clapped her hands together. "It's shrimp fried rice. I'm glad you like it. I made it, of course," Izumi explained, casting a wink at Kouji, who didn't seem to notice.

Kouji ate silently and politely, like the lone wolf he was. He belonged in that group, so he really wasn't much of a lone wolf. He had his own unique attitude, but that didn't matter. The timer beeped, and he put on two oven mitts and carried his pot of soup to the wooden table. Izumi took a potholder and Kouji relieved himself of the weight.

Yes, Dinohumon's home was a bit like a regular Human home.

Izumi had a basin filled with water that she informed (ordered) the others to put their dishes in. She and Kouji decided to check on Takuya.

Izumi rapped the door, and Kouji held the bowl of stew they had set aside for him. "Takuya-kun?"

"Hai," Takuya croaked.

He looked a bit better; it was probably because of the evening. Izumi acknowledged this by saying, "You look better, Takuya-kun. How do you feel?"

"Heki, heki. Honto, I'm fine."

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Now we know he's getting better. He's stubborn again!"

Ignoring his remark, Izumi said, "Kouji-kun prepared some stew and we were wondering if you'd like some. Also, Dinohumon left some cold medicine before he left, so after you eat, take the medicine and go to sleep, alright?"

Takuya looked mildly surprised. "A… Arigatou. But really, you didn't have to do all this."

"Baka," Izumi said mildly. "It's what friends are for. When you're feeling better tomorrow, we'll leave. You didn't slow us down a bit, ne, Kouji-kun? That's what friends are for, right?" She nudged Kouji and elbowed him a bit hard.

Wincing, Kouji nodded. "Er, hai." He smiled at Takuya too.

Takuya complied with a grateful sneeze. In Kouji's face.

"He's doing that on purpose…"

"Kouji-kun!"

Takuya awoke in the morning feeling restored. He was feeling much, much better, and was well enough to travel.

Izumi's premonition was right: He would feel better in the morning.

"I slept great!" Takuya stretched and threw off the covers. There was already something cooking in Dinohumon's kitchen.

He slid into his shoes, and pulled on his hat and goggles. Takuya was back to the same Takuya. With that thought fresh in his mind, he set off for the kitchen, a rumbling in his stomach growing louder with each step.

Tomoki knelt at the low wooden table. It was the first time Takuya had seen it, but it was clearly the dining table. The younger boy brightened when Takuya walked in.

"Takuya-oniichan! You're feeling better? That's good!" Tomoki babbled.

"Takuya!" Izumi walked in with a plate of griddle cakes. "Back on your feet, I see!"

Takuya bit down an "urusai", and realized he was better. "Yeah, although I was fine from the beginning…"

"No you weren't," Junpei said, walking in, taking a seat at the table. "Sugoi, Izumi-chan! These pancakes look delicious!"

Izumi looked at the older boy with a look of amusement, and then disappointment.

"You only like them because Izumi made them, right, Junpei?" Takuya asked, exasperated.

"Damn straight!"

Everyone giggled.

Izumi stopped. "Where's Bokomon and Neemon?"

"Asleep," answered Tomoki.

"And Kouji-kun? He's usually the first one awake, after me, but I accidentally woke Tomoki up and he wanted to help me. I'll go check on him."

Setting her plate of pancakes down, Izumi opened the door of their sleeping room. Tomoki's, Junpei's, and her mats were all put away neatly. It was courtesy to leave a house the way it was, especially if you were just a guest.

"Kouji-kun?" He wasn't on his mat. He was sitting against the drab grey walls, with his eyes close and was using the walls as a support. He was close to the door, so Izumi guessed that he was trying to get to the door. "Kouji-kun? What's wrong?"

There was something about him that wasn't right. He didn't look like he was sleeping. He opened his eyes and Izumi, who had leaned close to see, noticed his eyes were different. Glazed. Far away. There was a spot of red on his nose and around it. There were dark circles under his eyes. He looked… Unwell.

Kouji inched away. "Nothing's wrong," he grunted. His voice was different, too.

That could only mean one thing.

Uh-oh.

The Chosen Children couldn't leave today after all.


End file.
